Roxas And Strife When Worlds Collide
by zanpakuto23
Summary: A story of Cloud Strife, Roxas and friends. The rebuilding of the city of Midgar and a dark secret about Shinra. Friends thought to have been lost forever re-emerge to forge friendships that will prove to last longer than a lifetime.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**Roxas And Strife, When Worlds Collide**

**Prologue**

It has been 2 years since the events of Advent Children and the city of Midgar still has not fully returned to it's former glory. The Shinra Headquarters now only a memory since it was destroyed by Sephiroth in the events that ensued with his last great battle with Cloud. Bodies of lost loved ones still hide in the rubble of old buildings from those events. The earth is still healing from the Meteor attack that Sephiroth unleashed upon the earth, if not for the life stream that day there wouldn't be much of an earth lift to live on. The great war between Sephiroth and the earth has indeed claimed many lives but these hardships have brought the survivors of that dark time closer together than family.

The past may have claimed their homes and even some of their family but never will it take their will to live. Now in the once lost and forgotten sector 7 all the residents of Midgar come together to rebuild what was once taken from them. This task however will take a huge amount of money and time, so unless the people come together as one this will certainly be impossible.

There are already signs of hope as the section which contained 7th heaven is now cleared and open for business, the only difference though is now they offer a delivery service as well as a bar. The building now rebuilt stands up as hope that one day all of sector 7 can be rebuilt better than before. The huge amount of available work is causing the economy to boom and thanks to the golden saucer the funds are available. Now the once the poor people of the slums with next to no possessions are now working class citizens building new homes having full meals and sending their children to school.

All seems well for most people aside from one person who is having a difficult time letting go of the past, from not being strong enough to protect the people that mean the most to him to having those same people be forced into protecting him to save his life and in one case that ment watching that person die right in front of him. He feels as if the things of the present are going to good to last like something big is on the horizon but is unable to pinpoint what it may be. After all Weapon is still on the loose and has been unseen for the last 2 and a half years, who's to say it may not come back and attack Midgar since we still use the raw mako ore left behind by Shinra energy and forced to use it until we can find an alternative power source. Without it the job of rebuilding the city would be impossible.

It is likely that new friends will be made and old alliances called upon. Some of the new friends that are on the horizon may be of an unlikely origin but be that as it may this is that story and anything is possible.

One thing is for sure though, this person feels that this town is worth something and as long as his friends live there he will defend it with all his heart, there is no darkness that can slow his haste to protect all that he has with the people who mean everything, this person is Cloud Strife.


	2. C1 Out with the bike in with the Chocobo

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**Chapter 1**

**Out with the old bike in with the new Chocobo**

The air was musty in the small upstairs attic room that cloud resided in, the sunlight crept in through the one window that existed in the room. The old wooden window showing signs of decay and a layer of dust on its surface let the warm sunlight pass through it but just barely. The sunlight slowly crept through and on throughout the room until it met a large dresser with was well maintained and had many pictures around it, actually this area of the room was about 2 meters by 2 meters was spotless. The sunlight climbed up the dresser and onto the pictures that lay upon it. The rest of the room seemed untouched since the resident moved in aside from that one area.

The sunlight continued slowly until it crawled upon the bed and onto his face, squinting his closed eye Cloud slowly opens his eyes and stairs up at his ceiling thinking to himself " another day, I wonder if this well ever get any easier". He got out of bed and walked over to the dresser and put on his solder uniform reminding himself that he wears this as a symbol of respect and honour for a dear friend. He then continues to open and unlock a large vertically stood up chest which contained a large sword. This was however so much more to him than just a sword, it was more of an extension of his soul, of his heart.

This sword was given to him by his dying friend Zack who was tragically killed in a battle trying to protect Cloud from Shinra. In his dying words he told Cloud to live on as his living legacy. Cloud takes the sword and places it on his back, he hasn't used this sword in some time now yet today seems different and causes him to take extra precautions.

Cloud begins out his door locking it behind him and is met by Yuffie which says "why do you always lock your door? You know you could always let me go in and clean it up for you a little, maybe I could even do a little decorating for you". To which Cloud replied as he continued down the stairs "the room is good just as it is" "ahh come on I won't take anything, honest. Remember I did give you back your meteria last time didn't I. Well at least let me go on your route with you today, please". Hey Cloud you there? Cloud!!!".

At this point Cloud had already taken the 3 packages to deliver off the shelf, a small lunch and jumped upon his motorcycle and had left the area. He had 2 stops to make in sector five and 1 stop at the golden saucer. As he drove out of the main gate of sector 7 onto the greener filled areas which had been created within Midgar to give it a more environmentally friendly look. What were once old buildings and rubble plus many old military establishments, now abandoned since the last war now was a few miles of lush green highway. Driving along the highway he noticed a herd of chocobos racing alongside him to which almost put a smile on his face, as he looked closer he saw they weren't running because they wanted to, it was because they had too. They were being chased by a black four legged monster and upon getting a closer look Cloud could not believe what he had seen it was a shadow crepper but this is impossible only Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz were known to be able to bring these tainted beast from the life stream to a physical form.

Cloud quickly turned his bike at a 90 degree angle screeching to a hault and jumped off bringing his sword to the ready and stared into the black soulless eyes of the beast. The unholy animal growled and put out his claws ready to strike but unfortunately for him he was no match for cloud who quickly dispatched this beast with no more than one slash from his mighty buster sword. His worry was not of this beast but rather where it came from or who may have summoned it. All of a sudden the silence was shattered by a loud explosion and one of the beasts went flying towards cloud and fell to the ground swiftly before him. As he turned around he found the source of the explosion it was his bike, apparently one of the beast got the bright idea of trying to destroy it and I guess he went around it the wrong way and managed to kill himself in the process.

Cloud calmly puts his sword upon his back and looks around to see one of the chocobos still there, it was a jet back coloured chocobo, one in which there was no known species in existence. Cloud slowly steps closer to the animal when he notices that some shrapnel from the explosion had hit the large bird like creature in the left leg. Slowly while keeping a steady eye on the intensions of the wild animal Cloud begins removing the objects.

Finally the last shard removed and with that the animal sprung to life kicking cloud on his back and ran off down through the trees. It seems as if this chocobo must have some special healing properties in order to heal himself from his wounds that fast. No longer had Cloud taken the pieces of shrapnel from the bird and his wounds had closed up. "Oh well serves me right for stopping in the first place I guess, I suppose I'll be walking from here on out".

Cloud picks up the 3 damaged packages and what is left of his rations and begins to wonder wither he should go back and tell the others about the shadow creepers. No I won't have them worrying about it, after all it was just 2 of them I'll deliver the packages and check out the other sector just to see if there is anything wrong. Now I just hope I can get a ride somewhere.

Cloud now walking down the road for a couple hours begins to notice a dark figure has been following him since he left his bike. But this figure wasn't planning on doing him any harm it was the chocobos from earlier. It seemed almost curious as to why Cloud helped him and edged closer and closer the further Cloud ventured down the road. It was dusk now and Cloud knew that he really did need to get to his location so he took a chance and laid out some of his lunch by the road, thinking to himself that it sure is strange that there hasn't been any traffic since he left this morning. The large dark as night itself chocobo proudly stepped up to the meal and began to eat the almost toasted bread since the explosion. Cloud waited and waited until the bird was comfortable eating and he knew that he would only likely get one shot at this. He knew now that he couldn't wait any longer and with a swift leap he jumped upon the chocobo and for the next couple of minutes it was much like a bull rodeo.

I thought you'd never run out of steam Cloud thought to himself as he looked down into the light blue eyes of the animal. Hey wait your eyes are just like mine that means you've been exposed to large amounts of mako . Cloud knew now that something wrong must have happened as there wasn't any known mako reactors still in use ,at least to his knowledge the only mako reactor still in use was the small one in Midgar and that was only using the raw material that Shinra had already extracted some years ago, if they used it wisely they could have enough energy to last for hundreds of years if it was used sparingly. Somewhere there must be another mako plant and they must not care much for the wildlife or the environment in general. This poor chocobo was an example of that. If it were not for his healing ability I am sure he wouldn't be alive right now.

Something bad was about to happen, he was sure of it, Cloud began off down the road but staying far enough from the highway so as to not attract any attention once he got to sector 5's main gate with some trouble at first since it has been a while since he'd ridded a chocobos towards sector 5 to find things pretty calm, he went to the depot and dropped off the packages. He then gave his 3rd package to a young boy at the station who said he'd deliver it for him for some Gil. Cloud agreed knowing time was of the essence. He then continued down the road and soon found out why there was no traffic it seems as if the road is blocked off by some military presence and on the side of their veicheals two letters I guess an abbreviation for something SR. I have no idea what that stands for but those solders look like they are wearing Shinra uniforms but there is no what that is Shinra they were disbanded after the last war. The only difference with the uniforms was a crest on the shoulder of the uniform with those same two letters SR.

There's no doubt about it they are Shinra solders but how? This doesn't make any sense. Worried about his friends back at sector 7 and for the well being of the citizens if a fight broke out because of him Cloud begins to turn around his new friend and with a low wark the chocobo began back towards 7th heaven.

Cloud has a small journey ahead of him to get back to sector 7 and along the way he thinks to himself of the past and the things he wishes he could of changed, the people he couldn't protect and his sins. As he gallops along on the back of his new companion a tear runs down his face and onto the feathers of the chocobo. Zack, Aerith, the mere mention of their names in his mind made the salty water travel down his cheeks ever so easily. He wiped away the tears and gritted his teeth saying under his breath " no one else is going to suffer, none of my friends are going to get hurt, I don't care if I die trying I won't let these beasts from the past nor these solders lay a hand on my friends".

Cloud not used to this much action without knowing falls to sleep on the back of his new friend. Hours pass and night turns to morning, birds began to chirp and the sun creeps up along the landscape uncovering sector 7's main gate with lay just in front of them. Cloud awakes to discover that he had fallen asleep "Dammit" I have to get to 7th heaven to see if anyone knows what is going on.

Cloud rides up the front of 7th heaven and all seems to be normal "thank God". Cloud finds an old rope and collar in the storage basement of the bar and attaches it to his new friend that seems not to mind, almost as if he understands what Cloud is doing and that he isn't in any danger. The silence is once again shattered with the same finesse as the explosion " O my God can I keep him please? Can I name him?" to which cloud replied "no and he's a she". "humph you never let me have any fun around here maybe I should go back home". " You're free to leave any time you like, no one is keeping you prisoner here" . " O my God you can be so stupid sometimes Cloud" Yuffie then runs off back on up into her room. "Well I am home no longer than a few minutes and I have already sent one of my friends of crying" sigh, I guess I better get the group together to discuss what we're going to do about this new group SR and to see what we can find out about them.


	3. c2 Out of this world

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**As well in this story Cloud does not know any KH characters from any past events **

**Chapter 2**

**Out of this world**

Everyone had gathered in the basement of 7th heaven, well at least everyone that could. Most of the Avalanche group was off doing their own thing however Yuffie, Tifa and Barret could not believe what news Cloud had brought to them.

"Son of a bitch, how the hell do you always manage to get yourself into this kinda shit Cloud. You always gotta be off doin some crazy shit, blowing up shit and....." . "Barret I was just doing the delivery for this morning" "oh...well then". Tifa sat quietly across from cloud with a very serious look on her face and said to cloud "do you really think that those solders are Shinra and what about those shadow creepers, they can't be back, he can't be back, can he?". Cloud sat in the corner " I hope not". It could easily be seen that this was indeed striking fear into Cloud's already weakened state of mind and heart.

"Well you're not going anywhere without me, I have all of the meteria" Yuffie said. "Dammit girl we have to give you the meteria cuz if we don't you'll only end up taking it from us anyway". "Well sorrrry I can't help it if you don't look after your stuff". And that went on for some time until they finally decided that they would leave the next morning.

Everyone retired to their rooms for the night, but one person would not be getting much sleep that night. Cloud tossed and turned the whole night seeing images of an oval shaped ball of purplish black mist and someone coming out of the mist. Who is it or what is it Cloud thought to himself as she dreamed, is it Sephiroth? "Are you Sephiroth" Cloud called out in his sleep to which he was answered only by silence. He then awoke in a cold sweat and jumped to his feet, "what the hell was that?"

Cloud walked over to his dust covered window and looked out to see just up over a ridge and past some old buildings that same oval shaped mist and he could almost pick out 5 or 6 figures coming out of it. He raced to the corner of the room and dug through a pile of old stuff and took out an old telescope and looked through the window. At this point in his life Cloud though he'd seen pretty much everything from huge summoned monsters from Sephiroth coming back from the dead but what he saw next topped everything thus far. Through the telescope he saw what appeared to be a young boy, a large yellow dog and a white duck all of which seemed to be communicating with each other. As well there was a couple of black figures that they were fighting but they quickly defeated them and it seemed as if they possessed some type of power and the boy seemed like he could summon some type of key like looking weapon.

I've seen enough I need to get there now and with that being said Cloud went back over to the corner filled with items he used in years gone by and picked a reflect meteria he had there. It just so happened to be one of the only pieces of meteria left that Yuffie hadn't already taken. I believe this was most likely because unlike the other meteria it wasn't as shiny and I guess didn't appeal to her as much. Cloud then proceeded quickly but quietly over to the window and held out his arm holding the meteria tightly in his right hand he set out a sort of reflective wave which sounded like a low base pulse. He did this because the reflective pulse would rip the window from its housing and send it a couple blocks down the street and the sound waves created by this were also reflected away from the house. I can't risk my friends getting caught up in this because of me, knowing how creaky the stairs are to leave 7th heaven and the fact that there are 3 locks on the door he would of most likely been able to wake up Yuffie. Cloud then got his sword out of the dresser and stepped onto the window ledge.

He looked back at the house as he dropped down out of the window, "stay safe friends and sleep soundly" , then with a thud he landed on the back of his chocobo and was off towards the ridge just outside of sector 7. Leaving the main gate he could hear low painful, heartless moans from just ahead, he looked down at the chocobo and he knew that his companion was aware of the situation but Cloud did not want his new found friend in any danger and forced him to stop a few yards from the ominous sounds up ahead. He tied the chocobo to a tree and began to crawl up to the top of the hill going through mud, grass, and some thorn bushes until he finally made it to the top. What he saw then he knew immediately was not from this world, there seemed to be a party of three but out of the three there was only one human.

These other two beasts were not like red XIII and they were not mechanical as he noticed one was bleeding from the left leg indicating that at the very least these were organic beings and very much living in the physical world. The first looked to be a duck like creature. Knowing that he had to make contact with them before they left he stood up and walked slowly towards the group, he spoke up and said "why have you come here and what do you want?". The boy of the group said "we were drawn in here while fighting heartless" to which Cloud replied "where are those dark creatures that came through that mist with you". They didn't answer and then the dog like creature said " they got away ". Well you all need to leave now and seal that gateway behind you I have enough issues to deal with now as it is so leave. The boy spoke up "No, we need supplies and to find those heartless before we leave so we're going to check into that nearby town".

I can give you some supplies if you want but you're not going anywhere that town, you guys are a risk and you brought those things with you so you are not going into town to lure more of those things in there with you. Midgar is under my protection and you will not be getting any closer to it. The boy then said but we are the only ones able to defeat heartless, that's our job and obviously I don't think you're up to the task. "I'll fight you but only if I must" cloud said softly, sadly but seriously. It's three on one those odds don't seem very good for you ya know. I can have just a one on one battle if you like. Cloud then replied "that won't be necessary" knowing to himself that it soon would be.

Cloud not knowing for sure what the true intensions of these people decided to himself that he would not kill them if at all possible and decided to send them back where they came from, that dark mist. No longer having the thought enter his brain when the dog creature lunged towards him with a shield out in front of his face almost as if he just blindly ran at him hoping that he wouldn't move. Cloud with one slash from the buster sword ripped through the dogs shield and with sparks flying and a high pitch screeching sound the shield lay in two pieces on the ground. The dog stopped and looked at cloud shaking and said " Oh gorsh". Not knowing exactly what that was supposed to mean Cloud held out his arm again and used reflect, with this close a proximity the dog was sent back through the portal at about fifty MPH.

Next the duck like creature began to shake his fist and jump up and down and even though it seemed as if he may have been speaking English, the manner in which it was being said made it impossible to understand what was being said. What happened next was a little surprising, the duck held up a wand and pointed it at Cloud and spoke clearly for the first time "this is for goofy" , cloud first tried to understand if this was an insult or if it may have been the dog's name. At any rate a blue ice crystal shot from the staff with cloud was not truly prepared for and he jumped out of the way with only seconds to spare. The next shot however was not as lucky for the duck as cloud once again used the reflect meteria and reflected the shot back at the duck freezing him in place and the force behind it sending the duck back into the portal.

All of these events taking only over a minute to ensue left the boy speechless all that could be seen was the red in this eyes and the shear fury building up inside of him. His teeth began to grit and a strange aura began to manifest around him, first a pure bright white light and then it would shift to a dark black. Not knowing exactly what this ment Cloud decided that he should attack now before this new power was unleashed by the boy. Cloud stepped forward putting his sword in front of him leapt towards the enemy, then all of a sudden without warning there was a burst of light and dark energy in which the effect was similar to clouds reflect which in turn sent him flying back about forty meters.

Cloud proceeded to go back up towards the boy making sure to stay far enough away as well he then looked over to see something, unnatural, something frightening. It was something no mortal should ever have to witness, it seemed as if there was a being trying to exercise itself from the physical body of the boy. There was an immense pressure around the figure, too much so for Cloud to get near it even if he wanted. The entity which now seemed to have two separate voices could be heard screaming out in pain, crying ,laughing, and roaring out in anger for miles.

He steps back knowing at this point that there is nothing he could do until this thing is finished fighting itself first. He sticks his sword into the ground and looks towards the boy thinking to himself " what have I gotten myself into this time, I just hope I can finish this before any else gets here".

Outside now time stands still for Cloud as he looks at Sora frozen in time yelling out at the heavens, but inside him, inside his soul, a battle is about to start. A battle that will decide who will be able to live out the rest of their life in physical form, this battle will be fought against Roxas and Sora and will ultimately determine who truly deserves to live out the rest of their life by a shear will to live life and want to experience it.


	4. C3 The Inner Struggle

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**Chapter 3**

**The Inner Struggle**

It is said that under every persons soul there is a foundation in which the soul itself is held upon. It is composed of different things depending on the individual, for some people it can be strong spiritual and psychological bonds like friendship and love and for other people it could be of a weaker bonding made up of physical wants like greed and pleasure. It is also very rare that a person comes face to face with the structural foundation of their soul because no matter how weak or strong it is the individual is normally the owner of their soul and it is not shared, therefore there is never any conflict unless with oneself. As well the spiritual location in which the soul is kept remains hidden from most everyone, never to be seen by the owner of the soul or any outsiders.

In the rare occasion that a soul is shared by two entities and one of these entities looses it's physical form and dies in such a manner that it feels as if it's work on this plane of existence is not complete, than that gives the entity a small chance to engage its counterpart for total control of the soul completely. However these chances exponentially grow dependant on the determination and inner strength a person has. Even with these chances improved it almost never happens especially if the entity in control has a strong foundation. One small chance still exists though if a person goes into a world that they are not necessarily supposed to be in or is extremely far from their own home world and becomes emotionally unstable, than it can give way to a small chance if the counterpart is willing to take the risk of control. Because the advantage in this fight is given to the home team, being the person in charge of the physical body. It is almost a death sentence to try something like this because whomever looses, they do not only lose their ability to exist, they also lose their portion of the soul and as a result become nothing.

This is the case with Roxas and Sora. When Roxas was absorbed by Sora to himself he wasn't ready to stop living but wasn't given much of a choice. Now he is about to seize the only possible chance he will ever have at existence on a physical plane, win or lose everything he thinks it worth it and these are the events that ensued.

Nothing but darkness could be seen as Sora looked around at his new surroundings. He thought to himself "why am I here and how do I leave?" when he looked directly across from himself he was just able to pick out a figure in a long black cloak. What was easy to see however, were the two weapons he was holding. He stood there not saying a word just looking towards Sora and nothing short of a deafening silence could be heard. Every second seemed like an eternity until finally the figure in the cloak spoke.

A low voice could be heard shattering the silence "I want to see my friends again Hayner, Olette, Pence then with a tear running down his face which was hidden under his hood he said and Axel". To which Sora replies "ya well I have friends to that depend on me and I am not about to give up now. Riku gave up too much for me to throw it all away by giving in to you". Now with emotions rising on both sides the strain became too great for the foundation to handle and the ground between the two began to crack and separate until there was a great chasm between them. As they both looked at each other at the end of each great precipice I am sure that neither expected to lose nor could either of them afford to lose. However now looking down in the chasm created by the spiritual energy of the two a small light could be seen and they both knew that this was where it was to be fought so without hesitation Roxas and Sora jumped off the ledge weapons drawn.

They met savagely dead center of the gorge weapons clashing, sparks flying and emotions raging. Crying and screaming they both plunged down further into the darkness in a fight to exist. Roxas began an onslaught of attacks to which no normal human eye could follow, they fought now faster and faster until with every clash of blade there was a sonic boom, the speed of their attacks ripping through sound and space. They were human no longer, they were entity's fighting for their right to a soul, for their right to exist. Sora up to this point was spending all his time defending but now has decided to strike back he pushed Roxas back and then his keyblade began to glow brighter until it lit up the entire chasm, then with all his might let go a swing that shrieked through the air sending Roxas about ten meters into the Cliffside.

Sora then landed onto the platform which consisted of different things from his past mostly, pictures of his friends and of his keyblade. But there also lay a small place on the surface which only consisted of about five percent of the entire platform and which was of a different color. The overall portion of the surface was composed of Sora's memories and was of a white color where as the remainder was a dark black and contained only one picture. It was a picture of Axle. Having such a small overall influence on the foundation of the soul Roxas was only able to place the one thing in his life that was dearest to him, his best friend.

Sora took a moment to look over his memories but it was not easy seeing how there was an enormous amount of damage done to the structure, there were holes and large scrapes where once pictures would have been, there were even some small sections that had completely given way and fell to oblivion. At this rate if this conflict didn't end soon it would mean the end of both of their existences.

Sora looked up at the place where he had driven Roxas into the Cliffside only to see his body hanging out of the hole that he had made upon impact, blood dripping down upon the platform creating an ominous dripping echo. Then Roxas managed to gathered up the strength to contract his muscles enough to push himself out of the hole falling ten stories down to the surface. He fell right into a puddle of blood that had accumulated over time, soaking his cloak with blood and as she stumbled to his knee only to notice that his left leg was broken in numerous locations along with some ribs. It is true that as entities they neither of them truly had physical body parts but it was the spiritual parts holding them together that were damaged. The small percent of the platform that was black now appeared under his Roxas's feet, he looked down to see Axle's blood stained face looking back up at him, as tears filled his eyes dripping down to the picture he looked over to Sora " why did you have to let him die? Why didn't you save him? Is it just because you consider him a nobody that you think he is worth less than anyone else?" Well today I'll show you how much he was worth to me and I'll live on because it's what he would have wanted"

As these words were leaving Roxas's mouth the mixture of darkness, blood and tears began to grow on the platform devouring all. First the darkness slowly crept along but then doubling and tripling until the platform was half dark and half light. Yet there was one thing that didn't change the number of memories that were on the dark side of the surface it was still only Axle, the only difference was the size of the picture, as the darkness grew so did his picture.

Sora now was a little taken aback from this assuming that he would have the upper hand during the entire fight but now they stand on equal grounds and knowing this begins to make him worry. Roxas unable to walk as a result of previous injuries begins to levitate off the ground with such a dark aura around him that it made the dark surroundings around them seem blindingly bright. Sora was however not ready to give up the fight just yet and as he leapt towards Roxas he was meet with much more resistance than last time but even so Roxas's previous injuries would prove to be his ultimate downfall.

Sora knew where Roxas was injured and he used that to his advantage going for the weak spots trying to hit his chest and leg. Keyblades clashed over and over until the sparks from the fight light up the sky like fireworks. Now the true size of there location could be seen, a huge almost endless chasm could be seen on each side of the walls in the flashes of light along with the endless drop beneath them.

Roxas now seemed to have another aura around him, his eyes glowed with flames as if there were some other power inside of him. Holding up both his keyblades to the darkened sky he began to swing them at Sora to which burning hot flames spued out. Sora dodged one after another, one hitting him in the right shoulder burning almost to the bone. Sora knew he couldn't keep this up much longer and with everything he had left swung his keyblade at the next fireball sending it back at Roxas distracting him for just long enough for Sora to get behind him and send a devastating blow to the back of Roxas's head sending him back down to the surface of the platform.

Both Roxas and Sora were now beginning to feel the effects of the prolonged battle and the injuries inflicted on both sides. Their attacks began to get slower and slower until both of them were just able to hold up their weapon. Roxas having a more difficult time to stand and being forced to use one of his weapons as a crutch and blood coming from the back of his head. Sora then walked slowly towards Roxas and stood before him as Roxas lay kneeled before him with only his keyblade holding him up. He then swung his blade severing Roxas's leg and causing him to lose an enormous amount of blood. As he fell to the floor he knew this was it and he would never see and of his friends again, he would never get to eat sea salt ice cream again, he would never see another sunset, he would never get to be with Axle again.

He lay in a pool of blood both keyblades at each side when he heard a voice say "never give up if you have something to live for, got it memorised" and with that he began to pull his stump of a leg across the surface trailing a river of blood behind him and only able to carry one of his weapons. Now lying on his side he proceed to make his last stand and points his weapon at Sora who replies "It's over you lost, give up I don't want to make you suffer any more than I have to". Roxas would not comply, not after hearing what he did he would never give up. Sora looked down at him "now my nobody counterpart I am sorry but I have to put you out of your misery if I am ever to have any piece of mind that you won't ever try and take over my soul again, I don't want to do this but I don't have any other choice".

Sora raised up his blade and sent it crashing down upon Roxas but to his surprise was met by a wall of fire that spread up from the dark picture until it engulfed the entirety of the dark portion of the platform. A fiery figure rose out of the flames " I'll always be with you and I'll never let you fight alone". At this point now it was obvious that Sora was gone, and just as soon as Roxas and Sora were pulled into this dark place Roxas was spit back out.


	5. C4 An unlikely Friend

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**Chapter 4**

**An Unlikely friend**

Rising up through the darkness as if escaping from hell itself Roxas soared, the fire still raging below. His almost lifeless spiritual body being regurgitated back into the land of the living. The sentence repeating over and over in his mind " I'll always be with you and I'll never let you fight alone". I know it was him, I know it was Axle and I will not rest until I find a way to bring him back to everyone, to me.

When I first joined the organization I was completely clueless, I was thrown into a job in which I had no idea how to complete nor did I know if what I was doing was right or wrong. I had nobody to turn to everyone was giving me the cold shoulder and I began to think the only reason that the organization kept me there was because I was the only one who could collect hearts. That is until he came along, taking me from feeling uncomfortable and lonely to happiness which really we we're not even supposed to be able to feel. I am not sure what feelings are or if I have them but when I am with Axle, my best friend, my only true friend it seems as if nothing else matters. It doesn't matter if I am not perfect at what I do, he just makes light of the situation and helps to ease the tension. If I did indeed die during that last battle and become nothing I would remember eating sea salt ice cream while watching the sun set with my best friend as my last most valuable memory before I had to leave.

Cloud still knelt near Roxas with his sword dug deeply into the ground and began to watch the next events unfold remembering that to Cloud only a few moments have passed while the battle waged inside of Sora. Sora standing up with his back arched backward and arms stretched out was screaming out in another person's voice as the spiritual figure emerged from the chest area, slowly it began to pull itself out until it slumped to the ground. Then Cloud witnessed the rebirth of a human being, both the physical body of Sora and the spiritual body of Roxas stood up and seemed to stare at one another as if in their own way to say there last goodbye's to one another. Then slowly they both began to walk into one another becoming fused into one being.

There was a ringing in Cloud's ear then darkness, Cloud tried to blink but there was nothing, he was unable to hear or see. A moment passed, the ringing subsided then a blurry image appeared in front of him, but this person didn't look like the other individual, he seemed more serious and had a darker aura to him. Cloud readied his sword saying " who or what are you?". The person looked up at cloud and slowly pulled down his hood "my name is Roxas" he clinched his fist in anxiety wondering to himself if he truly did deserve to live out his life and in the process send Sora to oblivion. Standing there alone he thought to himself what am I supposed to do next and most importantly how was Axle able to help me and where is he now? I can remember when he died, trying to help Sora...uhh. I can remember the way I felt. How is it possible for you to still be alive?

Cloud brought Roxas's train of thought to an abrupt hault as he placed the edge of the buster sword about 2 mm from his jugular vein. Roxas stared at Cloud with a certain look in his eyes, a look of desperation, of emptiness, like there was something dark within him that he had to control. Cloud was reminded of himself and put his weapon to his side. Why did you do that Roxas said as his voice became more stabilized. I am not sure I guess I acted out of my better judgment so you better go back now to wherever you came from before I change my mind. I can't go back, I know somehow that Axle is here somehow, somewhere in this world or somewhere inside of me. In either case I cannot go until I find out where Axle is.

This Axle you speak of, he's really important to you is he? Yes he is Roxas replied. I guess he is someone that you weren't able to protect. Well kind of, he was usually the one protecting me. I understand, Cloud replied unwilling to reveal his reasons on why he is so understanding to Roxas's plight. Cloud put's his sword upon his back, follow me Roxas I'll find a place for you to spend the night. Roxas couldn't help but be amazed and smile a little to himself as he sensed a familiar feeling. Being taken under someone's wing that is a total stranger and being helped out when he has absolutely no idea where he is or what he needs to do.

They both began to walk down the small incline when all of a sudden Roxas collapses, the injuries inflicted to him during his inner battle with Sora still need time to heal. Cloud put his arm over his shoulder and helped him to the chocobo, they began slowly back towards 7th Heaven the moonlight shining off the dew droplets on the grass creating a diamond like carpet upon the meadows all the way back to the main gate. Roxas now asleep leaning on Cloud's back as they ride up to the front door of 7th Heaven, Cloud shrugs saying "we're here wake up" oh sorry about that. They climb down off the larger than normal chocobo and tie him to the front post, Cloud now thinking to himself that he's going to need to get a more permanent place for his chocobo to live if he is going to keep him. Cloud realizing as well that the door is locked and the only way in without creating a scene was up into the window the same way he went out. Cloud steeped back and leaped up onto the window ledge. "Just wait there a moment , down below the window and I'll get you a rope, Cloud gets a rope out of his junk pile and throw's it down to Roxas who has to tie it around his waist to be hoisted up.

Well I guess you're staying here tonight, here take my bed for now I've gotten enough sleep for tonight, you need it more than I do. Roxas limped over to the bed too exhausted to care where he was going to sleep and passed out immediately. Cloud looked over to his destroyed window, " oh well I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight". Cloud went out into sector seven to get a new window and was back by daylight. The huge stockpile of building supplies as a result of the rebuilding of the entire Sector came in handy for just such a situation as this. Cloud was able fix the window in about an hour only making as much noise as he had to, so as not to wake anyone up.

Cloud now feeling kind of restless went outside again through his new almost doorway "the window" and began to build a small shack for his chocobo to sleep in. He decided to build it in the back of the building taking up only a small amount of building supplies and space. Well it won't get done today but hopefully in a week or two I'll have a place for my friend to stay. Cloud's new work ethic can be attributed to his subconscious, he is working nonstop so as to keep his mind off the unpleasant memories of his past which have been brought up. This new person Roxas reminds Cloud of himself, of how he wasn't able to protect the ones dear to him and how people have died for him. He will either keep working until he passes out or comes to terms with who he is and where he is going.

Cloud now works tirelessly at his new pet project of building a chocobo pen while Roxas is asleep in his bed. As well it's getting close to nine o clock now and most of the residents of 7th Heaven are wakening up to start a new work day. There is work to be done and packages to be delivered, Tifa starts up the stairs thinking that it's weird that Cloud isn't up yet, usually he's the first one up. Tifa continues up the stairs only to knock on Cloud's door "Cloud are you okay in there it's past nine o clock". Roxas wakes to hear Tifa's voice saying are you okay in which he responds in reflex to " Yeah ". Are you sure you don't sound like yourself I am coming in, Roxas still injured manages to sit up on the bedside "what am I going to do?" Cloud just barely picks out hearing Tifa's voice realizing how late it was that she would have checked up on him by now. Cloud runs back under his window jumps up and walks over to the door, Roxas stares at him still dazed with exhaustion and amazement at how fast Cloud can move as well as the lack of emotion that he shows, almost as if he himself was a nobody.

Cloud opens the door "hello Tifa I am fine " no way, I know I heard someone in there with you. Tifa being her persistent self forces her way in. She is greeted by the blank stare of Roxas who is just barely conscious and Cloud's guilty face. Oh my God I am sorry I didn't know, I am so stupid I'll go now, Cloud now turned a blood red closes the door behind him as he runs off after Tifa " no really, it's not what it looks like".


	6. C5 It's not what it looks like

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**Chapter 5**

**It's Not What It Looks Like**

When Cloud finally caught up to Tifa and tried to explain to her what had happened all she could do was snicker and giggle. Cloud became frustrated with it all and decided to get everyone together for a meeting to explain what happened and to decide what to do from here on.

After Tifa finally calmed down Cloud asked her if she could gather up the crew in the basement; Cloud was up in his room talking to Roxas. I can't leave yet not until I find him, what makes you think he is in this world anyway? Roxas paused for a moment and then said "I can feel his presence near me now and ever since I came into this world, even when I fought Sora, I know he is here somewhere". Okay Cloud said I'll see what I can do and maybe later we can go and search for your friend.

Cloud left Roxas in the room, who at this point was beginning to feel a little better knowing that now his new friend Cloud is going to help him find Axle. Cloud walked slowly down the stairs then over to the pinball machine hitting the special combination to enter the basement. As the small elevator descended into the basement he could hear laughter coming from everyone, then a voice saying "shush he's coming stop laughing".

Barret stared at Cloud as he got off the elevator with a large smirk; he lasted about a minute until he couldn't help himself "so Cloud I never pictured you for a tutee fruity kinda guy, all flowers and ponies, next thing ya know you'll be prancing around in that dress again". Cloud turned red "damm him for remembering that time I had to sneak into Cornello mansion, stupid dress". Marlene who was playing with her chocobo dolls in the corner said "really uncle Cloud likes boys like me, yay!!! Now we can have tea parties". Then Yuffie butted in "ya know Cloud I got a book with some of my old boyfriends you can have a loan of if you want". Stop it all of you this is serious; this guy came from a different world he literally came out of a mist and then emerged from some other person's body. Well needless to say it took some time to get everyone to understand what was going on but after an hour or so Cloud finally got his point across.

Barret spoke up "Ok so are we helping this guy or not?" Cloud said "Yeah I think we should especially seeing what day this is, I know she would help him". It was the anniversary of Aerith's death. Barret said damm man I'm sorry I forgot and then everyone joined in saying they were sorry. That's ok I am going over to the church for a little while to pay my respects. The boy's name is Roxas and he's up in my room right now, I would ask you all to treat him like one of our own and Tifa if you could, would you be able to fix him something to eat. I'll be back in a couple of hours. Yuffie ran after Cloud "can I tag along with ya?" Sorry Yuffie this is something I want to do myself. "Well you guys are no fun at all I am going back to my room." Tifa knowing that Cloud would be gone much longer than a couple of hours decided to get Roxas something to eat, she figured seeing how Barret is going to be having steak and potatoes as he always does every day that she would make a little extra.

Barret walked in and sat on the bar stool, "so I guess Cloud is goin to be gone for a while". Ya if he comes back today I'll be surprised. Ya know Barret it wouldn't hurt you to go up there sometime and drop off some flowers for all of us sometime. "Oh no I'm no good at that kinda stuff, all the crying, talking and hugging". Barret it's likely that Cloud is going to be the only one there; do you really think that is what he'll do if you go up there? Well I'm not so sure now hearing about him and that other fella. Barret and Tifa laughed together until finally Barret caught his breath and said, anyways why don't you go up there? Well for one the second last time I was there I barely escaped with my life fighting a remnant of Sephiroth, I believe his name was Loz. I don't know I just don't like going up there it brings back to many painful memories, it feels like it's more of Cloud's place than it is ours. "Well why the hell you tellin me to go up there and bring flowers?" "I don't know I just thought you'd look cute going up there with flowers, and it's a nice gesture that's all, just to let Cloud know that we still care". Ya well if you have any gestures you want to send to someone then you're going to have to do it yourself.

Ok well I guess that I'll be giving the best of the stake to our new guest today, piff. Tifa not truly being serious about his meal watched as Barret became enraged as a result of not getting his stake which he has each day, every day. He got so mad that she couldn't hold it in anymore and began to laugh hysterically. "Damm you girl, always getting me all worked up over nuttin". Barret walked as he mumbled to himself over to his makeshift living area, sat down on his big chair and turned on the TV.

Tifa prepared dinner for Barret "all ready". Barret wasted no time in going over to devour the meal as if it were the last meal he would ever receive. I'm going up to give some to Roxas okay; you can clean up the dishes if you like. "Ya okay" both of them knowing the likelihood of Barret doing the dishes was about as likely as Yuffie not stealing something shiny. Tifa continued up the stairs and knocked on the door "hello can I come in?" One minute Roxas said as he opened the door and then locked it behind himself. "Why did you do that" Tifa said. Well Cloud told me not to let anyone else in and that if I had to leave the room than to lock the door behind me. Well here anyway I brought you some dinner and even some pocky I had hidden away.

Thank you very much I haven't had much to eat in quite a while now. Tifa said as she handed him the plate of food "would you mind if we had a chat for a little while? Since we can't go in the room how about we just sit on the stairs for a while?" "Okay". Well from what Cloud has told us you have come from a different world and somehow took control of someone's body, is that right? Well kind of, you see I didn't take control of his body, in actual fact I used the energy from the physical form of his body combined with the spiritual power of my own to create the real me again. And no I really don't know how I did it; it's almost as if it came naturally when the opportunity arose. Okay and what's this about your friend you're looking for? Well he isn't just my friend, he's my best friend but he was killed some time ago ironically trying to help the person I emerged from." Oh well that sounds complicated". Ya I know, it's strange though because I never would have actually been able to exist if it wasn't for Axle. "Oh so that's his name is it, well how do you know that he is here somewhere?" Well see I don't know that either, all I know is that I can feel his presence here even now and that alone is enough to keep me here for the rest of my life if that's what it takes to get him back. "Wow well I guess this friend is really important to you isn't he?" ya he is. Well guess what I am going to help you in any way I can, so starting today I am going to do Cloud's delivery's for a while, so that he can help you out.

Thanks again Roxas said to Tifa as he handed her back the plate, I am going to go in and take a nap now. He began to unlock the door; Tifa leaned over Roxas's shoulder trying to get a peek into the room. Roxas gently moved her away from the door "really sorry I can't let you in bye and thanks again". Roxas walked into the room locking the door behind him and began walking over towards the dresser; I guess this is what Cloud doesn't want anyone to see but why? He looked at the top of the dresser that almost touched the ceiling; there he looked at the picture of Aerith and Zack. He noticed a small red ribbon between the pictures and a very old decayed looking rose. This obviously means a great deal to him, it's the only thing clean in this whole room. I guess I better leave all this alone and take a nap. Roxas went over and lay down on the small bed, curled up against the wall and began to go to sleep. Roxas thought out loud as he lay in bed, hopefully I'll be cured up completely soon, I hate sleeping all the time like this. Kinda reminds me of Axle, he sure did like his sleep. I have to find him, without him this new life I have fought for will be meaningless. As he said this he became overwhelmed by a feeling of happiness and content, I know your there Axle and I will find you.

Cloud decided to walk to the church; it would take a while longer though being in sector five and all. But still he wanted to contemplate everything that was taking place thus far and the action that he would take. What am I going to do about those solders I saw, I hope I don't run into those guys, I'm really not in the mood for conflict today. At least I finally have some time alone to just think. He was walking for an hour or so when he began to hear the sound of something off in the distance almost like a helicopter. Well that's what it sounded like but not what it looked like, it looked more like one of those old flying machines that you need to peddle. "You can't be serious not these guys again" the occupants of the flying machine yelled down below, "hey Cloud what do ya think, we built it ourselves". They circled around once then came in for a less than graceful landing on the side of the road. Reno and Rude emerged from the dust cloud created by the landing causing Rude to wipe off his dust incrusted glasses. Reno spoke up "how that for a cool entrance, coming out of the smoke or ah… dust like that." Fine I guess Cloud said not interested at all as he continued walking away from them and further down the road. Hey wait are you going to sector five by any chance cuz if I were you I'd think twice about that. See me and Rude were just by there and well there's a new movement, "what do you mean a movement? The only movement you guys ever make me want to have is a bowl movement" Ha! Ha! Not funny in the least said Reno followed by Rude "that wasn't very nice to say". Ya well what do you mean then Reno?

Ok well I was talking to the bosses boss Rufus there the other day and apparently he has a brother that well no one is supposed to know about, err…ah not even me really. I heard him talking on the phone to someone and the only words I could pick out were "your no brother of mine" and "Shinra Reborn" then he went on to say something about sector five being the new headquarters or something. You started listening on the other line didn't you? What? Ah yeah but it was at the end of the conversation so it doesn't really count. Well anyway at least that clears up what SR stands for, do you know anything else about what they are trying to do? Nope nothing else just that and you should be happy we shared that classified information with you right Rude."Yeah I guess so" Rude said still trying to clean his glasses.

Anyway Cloud we gotta jet, literally so well see ya later buddy. Sorry guys but I don't think you'll be jetting anywhere in that thing. Oh ya you wait till Rude starts peddling, well make you wish you had one of these babies instead of that old bike you have. Cloud didn't care to correct them on his new mode of transportation, he was just glad to see them leaving. Even if it did take fifteen minutes of them trying to get up enough momentum to get off the ground, the last words Cloud could hear as they flew off into the night was "Rude you need to lose some weight" and "well if you didn't hid my glasses on me so often I wouldn't get depressed and eat so much". Those guys will never change Cloud thought to himself as he continued down the road until and began to approach the main gate.

No guards this time that's strange, I expected there to be much more security than this especially if it is to be the next Shinra. The thought of the world going down that same path as it did just a few years ago made cloud nauseous. Cloud walked through the sector with very little resistance at all, a few dogs here and there, a couple of kids in the street. This sector didn't look like it was under lockdown or under any type of Shinra control at all. Cloud walked over to the children "where are your parents and why are there no adults around?"The children looked up at Cloud as if surprised at the question, "they are at the mako factory, all the grown up's have to work at the factory or everyone has to die". Cloud now realizing the level of traumatization that had been inflicted on these innocent children. Damm these guys they certainly do sound like the old Shinra to me. Cloud said goodbye to the kids promising that he would come back to help them later and ran up towards the church, thinking from the top I should be able to see most of the sector, I gotta hurry.

Cloud finally made it to the church now overgrown in lush green vine; he then slowly proceeded to walk through the large main door and into the church. Inside it was mainly dark aside from some small rays of light beaming down from the roof above that had been broken since his falling through it. He walked up to a small circular patch of flowers growing In front of the rows of pews. He reached into his small backpack and did what he did each year since her passing. He pulled out a black rose and lay in the front of the flowers. Here you go Aerith, this is for the rose I got from you, and I was never able to give you one in return. I hope you don't mind the color, I feel as if it kind of suits me. I know there is darkness inside my heart but until I know that he is gone for good, that he can never come back then I can't die, not yet. Sephiroth, I know he must still be in the life stream and as long as you are than justice has not been done to Aerith. What am I saying getting rid of Sephiroth won't do you justice either but it's the only thing I can do. Cloud drops to his knees crying, "damm you Sephiroth why do I get the feeling you somehow have something to do with this, next time when I confront you you'll be less than a memory".

Note: please review to let me know what you think so far. I've had no reviews yet and this is my first story so any feedback will be appreciated. I'll work extra hard if I know people are waiting to see what happens.


	7. C6 Family Feud

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**Chapter 6**

**Family Feud**

Cloud began walking out of the church trying to compose himself after having let his guard down and his emotions get the better of him. He wasn't out of the church doors five minutes when he saw them; a large platoon of soldiers with the SR initials marked on their shoulders. They were all dressed in blue uniforms and looked identical to Shinra uniforms, then an officer dressed in red came forward. Are you Cloud strife? He said. "Yes I am, who are you guys and what do you want with me?" "We are with the Shinra Reborn army and our leader would like to talk with you. You can come quietly or in a body bag it's up to you." "Wait who is your boss?" "Well his name is Rufus Shinra but that doesn't matter your coming with us now." "But wait, I know Rufus and he wouldn't be doing this to the people." "Sorry we really don't have time for this you can talk it over with the boss when we get there, so hand over that ancient stick you call a weapon and well be off." "Ok I am willing to go with you but no one touches my sword, it goes with me." "No can do, hand it over now or come in by force".

Cloud slowly began to draw out his sword, why can't you people just listen to reason there is no need to die for nothing. The officer in red began to smile, a smile that began to shine from deep within his helmet. "Well we already know that you won't listen to reason as we've tried explaining it to you before. Now come brother and we will speak in the only language that you know, after all you have already killed your brothers before Loz, Kadaj, and Yuna just to name a few." Cloud couldn't believe it these solders are remnants, all of them but it looked as if they were made in a hurry and not equal to that of Loz and the others. These we're just a step up from the ones I saw back four years ago in Nibelheim my hometown and they we're mindless drones.

"If you are who I think you are than I have no choice now but to destroy all of you." "Big words for someone who is outnumbered one hundred to one." "I will do what I must to protect my honour and that of my friends." "Oh well have it your way, lets have some fun men, lets see how many pieces we can turn him into. Attack!" Cloud was showered in bullets for a full thirty seconds until all that remained was a cloud of dust. "Well I guess the boss over exaggerated his abilities just a little, I thought he was supposed to be some sort of an elite soldier or something". Just before they began to leave the dust settled and once it did there was Cloud standing in a sea of metal fragments stained in red from blood running down his wrists and upon the blade of his sword.

"I see your still alive and only some minor cuts, not bad we might get to have some fun after all." "Sorry to disappoint but I have no time for you or anyone who has anything to do with Sephiroth." Standing there is a pool of his own blood and metal shards he began to give off a blue powerful aura. Looking out at the enemy he spoke " You are the reason for everything wrong in this world, everything evil and everything empty. You come from darkness and can only bring just that so now I send you back from which you came." "You're all talk one solder said, "come on men lets show him true power." Cloud slammed his sword down into the asphalt like a hammer of justice creating a blade beam that sliced through half of the entire opposing force. The men quickly began to break ranks and run off in different directions firing their rifle's randomly and they ran off. Cloud however was not ready to let them escape, he was forced to track down the remaining enemies and cut them down until there was only one left. Cloud looked over at him, I will spare your repulsive existence so that you may deliver a letter to your superior. Tell him that I am coming for him and anyone else that he is associated with. Stop using the people of Midgar in your Mako factory, then when I do make it to you I'll give you a quick death.

Then a familiar sound began to come closer to them, what could they want now? Reno yelled out to cloud from their flying machine above " see Cloud we told ya so, look everything is messed up in sector five." Ya I have noticed where were you guys about five minutes ago I could of used some help. We were watching from about a mile away trying out some new Shinra technology, we're going to called it the super scope right Rude. Ya ok Rude said panting as he continued peddling the machine to keep them airborne. Reno piped up and proudly said it's like a mini x-ray telescope we were watching you from behind a building, isn't that cool?

You guys are a real piece of work you know that, thanks Cloud. That wasn't a complement Cloud replied with a look of disgust on his face. Oh well then we came over now that things have cooled off a bit to give ya a lift but if your going to be like that then well be going. Good Cloud exclaimed. Come on Rude lets get out of here we know when we're not wanted. Come on Rude a little faster we want to make a dramatic exit. But my legs hurt I'm not used to this, I want the helicopter back. Soon when we can afford it but for now just keep peddling, Rude's movements became more and more unstable as they began to make their decent to fly quickly over Cloud's head as they left the area. I don't know If I can do this Reno I feel all woozy. They had reached their desired altitude with was about 4 meters off the ground, the makeshift plane began to bounce and bang off the ground. Pull up Rude we don't want to crash, get ready we're coming up on Cloud's position get ready to stick out your tongue at him as we fly by.

Cloud finished talking to the solder, so do you got all that, you can leave now I am finished with you for now. The solder turned and began to walk away when they both heard bitter screams and a screeching sound from above, Cloud looked up to see them both going off bouncing up and down as Rude has become exhausted yet still getting up the energy to both look down licking out their tongue's. Those idiots. No sooner could he get the words out of his mouth when a box of Rude's spare sunglasses came crashing down upon the back of Cloud's head sending him to the ground out cold. Reno and Rude more interested in trying to keep their machine in the air didn't notice what they had done as they limped off to Tseng's to report in.

Cloud lay on the ground out cold as the silent footsteps of that same solder cam upon his lifeless body. Looks like the tables are turned now ha. He dragged Cloud over to his bike and threw him on, they then began to drive to the Shinra Reborn Headquarters.

They travelled for about a half hour until they came upon a large building, it was an exact replica of the Shinra headquarters that was destroyed during the events that ensued two years ago during Cloud and Sephiroth's battle. They drove into the underground entrance where Cloud was handed over to the guards and placed in a holding cell. A few hours had passed when Cloud finally came too. Cloud blinked his eyes a couple times and looked at his surroundings."Those idiots".


	8. C7 Familiar Faces, Familiar Places

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**Chapter 7**

**Familiar Faces **

**Familiar Places**

Cloud spent the rest of the day in his cell trying to figure out how this was possible, the Shinra Headquarters rebuilt right here in sector five, but why? Everything looked identical to the last time he had been imprisoned at Shinra but he knew this building had ben destroyed in his battle with Sephiroth. This time was a little different though as he had no one here with him; none of his friends. Tifa, Barrett, Vincent, Yuffie, Red... everyone.

Cloud sat in the corner on the wall closest to the door in an effort to make an escape if someone came in the door but as the hours began to pass he began to drift off thinking to himself. I'm trying to keep everyone safe by keeping them at a distance but I really do miss them, especially in situations like this. If I get out of this then the next thing I need to do I get everyone together, we need to find Red and Vincent and let them know what is happening. The day was coming close to an end as Cloud sat up in his bed "Well I guess I better get some sleep if I'm going to try and bust out of here tomorrow, hopefully I can get some answers along the way."

Cloud was asleep about five hours or so bringing the time to about four in the morning when he was awoken to find that Tifa was in the cell with him. "Tifa what the hell, how did you end up here."

"I don't know. I was worrying about you as I fell asleep in my own bed but now I'm waking up here and I have no idea where this is."

Tifa looked to Cloud and seemed to be both frustrated and a little scared, "Cloud do you know where we are?"

"Afar as I can tell Tifa this is Shinra headquarters and we must be in the holding cell area."

Tifa now just beginning to understand their situation looked to Cloud for answers. "But that's impossible the Shinra HQ was destroyed years ago". Cloud now began to feel bad for Tifa and couldn't help but blame himself for getting her involved in this.

He looked over to her "I know the building was destroyed but someone must have rebuilt it for some reason and now it's in sector five. I think that's where we are."

Tifa was unsure of what would happen to her but she was able to put trust in her friend, she had to or all hope would be lost. Tifa began to notice that not only was this very much like the old Shinra HQ but this situation in particular was very familiar.

"Hey Cloud" Tifa said "I wonder why someone would go through all the trouble of recreating not only this building but also the very situation that we were all in years ago. "

"I can't began to imagine the reason for that" Cloud said "but I know for certain that this is wrong. I was speaking to some kids in the street a while back and they told me their parents were taken to work in a mako factory that I assume must be near and most likely underground under this building. Tifa I'm not sure who is behind this but I think Sephiroth may be involved and that's why once we get out of here I want you and the others to leave, I won't drag you into another one of my battles".

Tifa looking more serious and determined now looked to Cloud " Am I not part of this world, there is nowhere I can go to escape this and whether you like it or not we're all in this together and I am sure that none of our group is willing to let you fight this battle alone".

With that there was a loud thump on the wall followed by a " Hell ya, screw you Cloud if you think we're goin to sit back and let you go and have all the fun! As long as I live I'll protect Marlene, so I guess it's you that's goin to be helpin me if I need to kick his grey haired ass again!" Said Barret

"Yes we're all in here and ready to hear what you have to say about getting us out of here, I will bring honour to my family name and not let my fathers death go in vain, as my name is Nanaki I will not give up."

The sounds of their voices Barret, Red XIII and Tifa made Cloud remember the bond he shared and made with his friends. Some of the situations they got into that seemed hopeless, it is in those times when their friendships grew and as a result of that Cloud looked to his friends as more than that, more as family. He knew that if it wasn't for them he wouldn't be here right now and how much they had sacrificed for him.

"Hey Cloud are you crying?" Tifa said.

"What no, I just find it kindy dusty in here.

"Yeah whatever" Tifa said "You have a sensitive heart under all of your tough exterior."

Cloud knowing he had to change the subject now said "Umm, okay we need to think up a plan on how to get out of here, any ideas Tifa?"

Tifa giggled and decided to let it go "Well Cloud I am not sure but last time it seemed as if was easy to escape".

With that there was another loud thump, "What the hell is goin on out there did someone say Cloud is cryin' ahh shit we must be deep in it this time."

Cloud spoke up "Dammit Barret I am not crying we are just trying to figure out a plan on how to get out of here!" Low laughter could be heard in the cell of Red and Barret.

"Ok now" Cloud said "It's for sure someone is trying to recreate the past but why and how."

Cloud looked at Tifa "Well if this is anything like last time the door is going to be open."

Cloud walked over to the door and slowly pushed it open. It creaked open eerily as the group left their cells. What is going on Cloud said this really doesn't make any sense why would someone go through this much trouble to recreate the past even to the point of leaving our cells unlocked.

Tifa looked to Cloud "I think we better ask questions later and get out of here now something is really wrong here."

They began to walk towards the main part of the building where Mr. Shinra had died last time they should be able to find the elevators there. As they continued to walk down the too familiar hallway they expected to know exactly what they would see but instead what they would find would change their lives forever. Walking to the end of the hallway the group began opening a large arched oak door and then entered the room.

Inside they saw a glimpse of the dark past imbued with a twisted bitterness of the present. There he was as if nothing had ever happened, Sephiroth standing above who seemed to be Shinra with a sword through his back.

"But how can this be he is already dead, he died years ago, and who is that guy standing over there" Cloud thought "I don't remember him from before."

A pale looking frail figure came out of the shadows slowly and began to speak "You must have questions about why you are hear and what is happening, but first introductions are in order. You may call me Sufur but pronounced suffer thank you in advance. I am the brother of a man you know to be Rufus, a brother who took everything for himself and gave nothing in return just like father. He was the favourite and I was the outcast then but now with the help of Sephiroth I will get to experience everything that I was deprived of all those years. Every moment that was taken from me as I was kept hidden away from society living life through the lens of a camera.

When father died I was too afraid to go out on my own and my brother did little more than forget me entirely. However guilt must have gotten the better of my father and though he didn't show me any love as a person he did leave me quite a fortune of gill. Now I get to live my lost life starting with this day seeing how it's when it started, when father met his demise."

Cloud's eyes still locked on Sephiroth now noticing that the sword imbedded into or who seemed to be Shinra was his own, the buster sword.

Cloud cutting in on Sufur and his speech spoke to Sephiroth "Why have you come back and why are you working with this poor misguided soul."

Sephiroth didn't speak a word he just looked down towards Cloud and smiled.

Sufur almost albino in complection became very angry and almost showed some colour in his face " Shut up everyone, I am talking now and It's my turn to live my life!"

With that said, two Shinra solders walked in with a dark hooded man and said " Sir we found this guy at their bar, we weren't looking for him before so he was overlooked."

Sufur's anger continuously growing said "No, no, no this isn't how it happened at all, I saw it from a security camera and this guy wasn't there in fact I've never seen him before, state you name boy before we have you killed."

The hooded man slowly steeped forward "My name, my true name is Roxas, sorry about before Cloud I couldn't remember who I truly was but now you don't need to protect me any longer now it's my turn to protect you."

Sufur began to laugh "You're going to have a difficult time doing anything about your situation without a weapon or a plan."

Roxas pulled down his hood "Actually getting caught by these two was all part of the plan and now that I am past all your security I think me and my friends will be going."

Roxas summoned his keyblade ; which was as sharp as a razor yet as long as Cloud's buster sword. He swung the blade in a 360 degree motion sending the two solders back through the door they came in through. Roxas looked over to Cloud " Ok now's our chance lets get out of here."

Cloud looked around to see that he and Roxas were the only two left in the main chamber, his friends had been taken away. One more person was still in the room however, it was Sephiroth who was still leaning on Cloud's sword.

"If you want this piece of junk back you can have it traitor. This thing you call a weapon is simply a piece of garbage."

Cloud's anger began to build as they both ran up towards the buster sword and Sephiroth however just as Cloud's hand was able to grasp the hilt of his sword they were met by a great flash and the very edge of Sephiroth's masamune blade. The shear force of the blade moving through the air was enough to send Roxas and cloud out through the window, and with only seconds to react and as they were now outside the building they almost instinctively both knew what to do. With one of their hands they both grasped the others and with their other hand they sunk their blade's deep inside the building's exterior slowing their decent and ripping up the front section of the building along the way.

Sephiroth looked down out the window and began to laugh "They still have hope even now how foolish, they must know even less then I expected. I'll end them now and save them the agony that awaits all who stand in my way."

Some distance away the same group of kids that cloud was talking to earlier looked up towards the Shinra reborn building now visible as Cloud and Roxas looked like a rocket hurling uncontrollably towards the ground as sparks from their blades lit up the sky. Knowing that it must of been Cloud they felt a sense of hope for the first time since their parents were forced away.

Sephiroth sent a huge fireball down towards Roxas and cloud. They could do no more than to watch as it came closer to them as they neared the ground.

Cloud yelled to Roxas "Whatever you do keep your blade in the building".

The massive fireball now bearing down on them Cloud mustered up everything he had and faced the magic with the broad side of his sword trying to block the attack. He was able to block the attack but the transfer in force sent both Cloud and Roxas down through the ground into what seemed to be a secret research facility.

Topside above ground there was a large explosion as the fireball that Sephiroth sent down to end both Roxas and Cloud crashed into the ground shaking the entire foundation of the building. Fortunately the building's foundation held and so did the facility they now found themselves in.

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Note: From this chapter on the grammar and sentence structure has been improved from my last chapters. As well for anyone interested an improved edited version of my story can be found on Deviant art . It is only up to chapter 4 but I hope to get it up to par with my Fanfiction account soon. On Deviant art the story's title is When worlds Collide however in order to easily locate it search for Roxas and Strife When worlds Collide. I hope you are enjoying the story so far (=^.^=)


	9. C8 The Strength Of Friendship

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII**

**Chapter 8**

**The Strength **

**Of Friendship**

The fall from the towering Shinra building above sent Roxas and Cloud hopelessly down into a research facility. As a result of the building being still under construction, a small area of the steel roofing had not yet been placed into the lab area of the underground research department. The area was just large enough for a small car to fit through but luckily somehow Cloud and Roxas managed to find it and slip through. They ripped through the thin meter or so of clay and rock and upon landing Sephiroth's huge ball of fire that he had sent down upon them moments before crashed into the ground above. The ground shook and before Roxas and Cloud could react a large amount of rubble came flowing down through the hole covering both of them in a dusty dark tomb.

It was silent now and completely dark, nothing could be seen and help was far out of reach as Roxas and Cloud lay unconscious in what could only be their grave.

Roxas drifted off to somewhere else, somewhere familiar; to a place he had always wished to return but knew he couldn't. "It would be too painful to go back there without him". Roxas said as his emotions began to get the better of him. "If I am a nobody and have no feelings then why do I feel as if my body is being torn up inside."

Roxas now becoming overwhelmed and exhausted said "This place is meaningless and so is this crusade I am on, if I die not only will it all have been for nothing, but I will also be responsible for the death of Sora. Is this my punishment for my sins? Is this my hell? To spend eternity on this forsaken clock tower."

Roxas looked down to find a sea salt ice cream in his hands. He dropped to his knees, tears began to pour out of his eyes as his life began to leave his body. He lay the ice cream down gently on the hot concrete and watched as it slowly melted into nothing more than a stain beneath him." Is this all we are something to just exist and then die, to go from something to nothing in the blink of an eye."

With no will to live Roxas's body slowly began to die. In his unconscious state he continued to stare mindlessly into the puddle and as his tears began to mix with the ice cream he began to notice something in the reflection of the mixture. He could see himself but someone else was behind him, leaning over his shoulder and smiling at him. It was hard to pick out but it looked like him and then he herd it " I never told you before but you were the only one that made me feel like I had a heart, don't give up now, we can't afford to loose the future".

Filled with a reason to go on living, a new found strength from within caused him to come too. He was only going to have enough air and strength to do this once, he summoned his keyblade and ripped upward blasting not only himself but Cloud as well out of the rubble and onto the cold steel flooring. He and Cloud lay there side by side lifeless staring up at the ceiling. Finally Roxas said " Cloud are you ok."

Cloud ripped a shard of rock out of his shoulder "I'll be ok thanks to you, If you hadn't of let off that blast of light and fire we would be dead by now."

Roxas looked a little confused, "What do you mean by light and fire?"

Cloud trying to mend up his wound as best he could said "Well that's pretty much it, I felt as if we were going to die then through the space between the rocks separating us I saw a bright flash of light and a warm glow of a fire. But that's not all, the fire wasn't really hot or painful it seemed kind of comforting yet also very powerful. It was kind of strange but I can't complain I'm just glad to be alive, you sure are one powerful person."

Roxas smiled to himself "So it was you, I will find you".

"Ya Cloud it's about time I told you something" Roxas said as he gathered his thoughts. "Since we first met I have been slowly recovering my memory and power, up until you saw me in the Shinra headquarters I have been recovering but now, now I think I have it all back. "

"You see Cloud the main reason I am still here is because I am looking for my friend Axel who is well... dead ".

"Wait a second" Cloud said "If he is dead then why are you still looking for him, if he is dead and your world is anything like mine then he is gone to the lifestream."

Roxas shook his head at Cloud "No you see I thought he was gone. In reality we both kinda died I guess, I was swallowed up by someone named Sora and my friend died in combat trying to save that very person."

Roxas looked at Cloud and thought to himself, there is no way that Cloud is going to understand this at all, I mean how could he anyway? I would imagine nothing that crazy could even happen on this world. But then he noticed that Cloud's facial expression was that of understanding not of ignorance. So with that he decided to tell him how Axel died and how he had overcome Sora to take control of his body as well as how he felt the presence of Axel on this world even though he met his end just a short time ago.

"So that's it, Cloud. That's how I ended up where I am today."

Cloud stood up "So when I first met you and you came out of that guy. "Well everything makes more sense now and I want to let you know that I know how it feels to be controlled by someone, so just know that you're not alone." Cloud's expression changed to frustration and hopelessness," At least you were able to break from those chains and become your own person, someone still has a hold over me."

Cloud looked up at the rubble that filled the hole in which they came down through."He's up there, Roxas".

"Cloud do you mean that guy with the silver hair?"

"Yeah, that's him, his name is Sephiroth and he has the ability to control me with these things called Jenova cells. He almost made me kill one of my best friends Aerith only to finish the job himself later and I was too weak to stop him. She died because I was to weak to help and if I don't get stronger it's only going to happen again."

"I'm sorry, Cloud I had no idea". Roxas looked to him with a smile "I might have got to this world by chance but I think I may have found the only person alive that can truly understand

me." Roxas stood up. "Cloud lets get out of here and I promise that before I leave this place that I will help you break the bonds you have to Sephiroth."

Cloud looked at Roxas."Roxas, thanks really for being honest and telling me your story but I can't get you involved with my fight with him. He is hellbent on taking all life from this planet and plus there is no way to get the cells out of my body without dying in the process.

"Okay Cloud if that's what you think but that's not going to stop me from trying to help out a friend."

"Yeah, okay Roxas, but right now I think we should focus on getting out of here, as you can see we aren't going to be able to get out the way we came in now that's it's filled with tons of rubble."

"Well lets let them think we're dead for now and find another way out Cloud, it should buy us enough time to escape and make a new plan on how to get your friends back".

"Sounds good." Cloud said sounding more optimistic, "And then we will do what we can to help you find your lost friend".

"Thanks Cloud, okay lets go."

"Hey Roxas, come over here there`s a computer that looks undamaged".

"That`s awesome Cloud it looks like a map of the facility and right there at the end of that tunnel there is a ventilation shaft going to the surface".

" Right but what`s this over here. It`s says restricted area SS research, I wonder what that could be?

"Well, it's along the way so I think we should check it out when we get there, what do ya think?"

"Sounds good, Cloud lead the way."

A short time later both Cloud and Roxas came to a large steel door that had still not been completely installed. The only part missing was the control panel and power being supplied to it.

"Well Cloud, should we knock?"

"Not today we don't have the time." and with that Cloud and Roxas tore through the door like paper.

What they found inside was something neither of them expected, it was a high tech part of the facility with two main chambers, one of which had the title of Project Sephiroth in bold print right above the door.

"Roxas, I think the answer on how that Sufur character is controlling Sephiroth is in here somewhere."

"Okay, Cloud, lets go but then we got to get out of here though the vent".

Inside the door there were vials upon vials of unknown fluids accompanied by huge vats of what Cloud claimed to be refined liquid materia. Then finally they came to it, a small stand labled the three kings. The small stand consisted of three slots in which one of the three slots were empty.

Cloud looked at the names listed under each slot, Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis. Cloud thought to himself, well of course the empty one was Sephiroth's but the other two were still there and I need to know what if anything is in them. Could this actually be the same Angeal and Genesis that Zack talked about Cloud wondered.

Cloud ran over to the nearest computer terminal to check out the data on this porject. "Looks like they were over confident on the secrecy of this place because there isn't even any encryption or locks on the entry logs. Cloud let out a sigh of relief, "Well Roxas looks like their not finished their project after all, I say we take these SS materia and blow the place up on our way out so they can't ever do this again."

"I'm with ya Cloud, but what did you find out about the research that Sufur guy is doing here?"

" Okay this is the quick version, from what I can understand the logs on the computer state that these three pieces of materia are supposed to be the final product of there project and the SS stands for soul stone. It goes on to say that there are some other stones in that other chamber back there but they are flawed somehow and I couldn't understand the rest or how they were flawed."

" I'll try and explain the rest to you later when we get out of here but for right now know that it was a good thing we found this place and that we need to go. Here there are two left and I think it's only fair we both take one each."

Cloud reached into the slot and took the one labelled Angeal and then proceeded to get Roxas to take the other.

"No, Cloud you can keep it I don't have any need for something like that."

"How can you say that Roxas when you don't even know what it does, now here take it, at least until we get out of here if you still don't want it then I'll take it for you."

"Okay have it your way" Roxas said.

But as he touched the stone there was a huge wave of energy that passed over them both and strangely the large vat of liquid materia drained down to empty.

"You okay, Roxas?" Cloud said.

"Yeah I'm okay.. I guess but something is different somehow, I hope we didn't just trap that Genesis guy in this one."

The stone glowed in the palm of Roxas's hand. Cloud said "Come on we need to get the other ones, we can't leave any chance that Shi

nra could get there hands on any of these. We'll worry about the consequences later as for now we need to get the stones and get out of here.

Guards could now be heard running down the corridor as Cloud and Roxas snatched up a few more stones in the other chamber and then set the emergency oxygen tanks to explode. As they ascended up through the vent Roxas couldn't help but feel as if he was truly alive somehow, but he couldn't explain it just yet.

Finally they reached the top and kicked open the vent.

"Out now Roxas, it's triggered".

"My boot is stuck on a piece of the vent"

And with that said they both flew out of the vent and onto a grassy field in a great ball of fire.

Moments later Roxas awoke and looked over at Cloud who was just coming to as well. Good he thought to himself we made it. When all of a sudden he felt this warm sensation in his hand, it was the soul stone and there seemed to be something on it. He put it up closer to his face to get a better look at it.

A tear ran down his face and onto the stone "Is that you, is it really you in there?" a very familiar face smiled back at him, Roxas had found him; it was Axel.


End file.
